September 8, 2010

Starting School: Bottle Cap Love Reminder

My toddler started preschool today! (I know many of you are cringing, and my homeschool friends all think I'm insane. In my defense, it's only two mornings a week, and I have to work one of those mornings anyway.) As I've mentioned before, A is my shy one and suffers a degree of separation anxiety, so I created this little Bottle Cap Pin to help ease her fears.

I was inspired to do this project after seeing this bottle cap necklace tutorial on Cap Creations. She warns not to use printouts from an inkjet printer, and after my own experimentation I have to concur. Stick with laser jet printouts, scrapbook paper or photo paper if you want to avoid streaking.

1. Hot glue the safety pin to the back of the cap. The pin should fit perfectly inside the cap.

2. Cut a 1 inch circle out of scrapbook paper for the background of the pin.

3. Add embellishments. My special nickname for A is "lady bugs," so I cut one out of scrapbook paper and added a little heart to remind her how much I love her.

4. Using mod podge, glue the paper to the cap. A was immensely proud of "painting" her pin.

A was a trooper walking into her school building. She went right to work playing with the toys, and I began to think a miracle had occurred. That is, until I told her it was time for me to leave, at which point she started screaming and kicking. I'm afraid her teacher might be a bit bruised tomorrow! She calmed down minutes after I left and even participated in some of the activities today, so I'm hopeful.

Another great pick for the starting-school-jitters! A young bunny wishes she could make her mommy small enough to fit in her pocket. She imagines all the fun they would have if she could take her mommy to school with her. In the end, she's content with carrying the love of her mommy's hugs and kisses with her through the day.

The rhymes are lovely to read and avoid becoming sing-songy. The illustrations are soothing watercolors that add to the calm and reassuring themes in the book. I think this would make a great companion to The Kissing Hand and is perfect for younger children who won't sit through that longer book.

She does look adorable sitting there. Cute idea to make a special pin. Sounds like she'll be fine in preschool since she calmed down pretty quickly. Pretty soon she'll be kicking and screaming when you are trying to get her home to go home. :)

So, here's my take on the whole school issue: there is NO RIGHT ANSWER. It is what is right for your family. While yes, I think you don't really need to send your kids to preschool. It might be what is best for your kid (like with your daughter), so really anyone else should just let you enjoy your family and let you do what is right for you guys.

Preschool is the best thing that ever happened to my only-child daughter. She really needed the extra socialization that I just couldn't provide...even with playdates and such. I feel much more confident about sending her to Kindergarten next year. I guess what I'm trying to say is, good choice, and I'll bet you'll both get the hang of it soon!

And, dont' worry about us homeschoolers. We're too busy shearing the wool from sheep, to spin, and weave into cloth, for winter dresses, to have time to judge anyone :) Okay, I'm joking - but you get the idea - I'm sure noone really thinks you're crazy, even if they like to tease.

You guys are great! I swear the mommy-blogosphere is the most encouraging out there. And honestly, I don't feel judged, but I've gotten enough "Wow, she's really young!" comments from friends and acquaintances to feel like I need to justify our decision. :)

Cute pin and great book - so many good recommendations floating around this week! Is it wrong that I'm kind of wishing I could climb in B's pocket and go with him next week? :) Our choice for preschool is a co-op, so I will be volunteering several times during the semester, which I'm looking forward to.